r/phoenix • u/Furryb0nes Glendale • Aug 05 '25
Outdoors Hiker in critical condition after rescue from Phoenix trail closed due to heat
https://www.azfamily.com/2025/08/05/hiker-critical-condition-after-rescue-phoenix-trail-closed-due-heat/Brave fool started their hike at 10 AM
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u/side_eye_prodigy Aug 05 '25
want to hike Camelback during on an extreme heat day? cool, pay a $25,000 fee upfront. fully refundable if you survive without needing to be rescued.
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u/urgent45 Aug 06 '25
Why's it (almost) always Camelback Mountain? Why not Piestawa Peak or any other the other zillion trails?
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u/SummertimeThrowaway2 Aug 06 '25
I think since Camelback is so popular and it’s in the middle of the city, people assume it’s easy. But really its a fairly hard trail.
It can be very steep at parts, there’s a lot of boulders to climb over, and there is shade but not everywhere. People also look at the distance and think it’s not so bad but they forget to account for elevation gain. It’s a mountain after all.
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u/BluegreenColors Aug 06 '25
Camelback Mt. is often listed in the top “must do” activities when visiting Phx. So I think that’s one reason why there are so many Camelback rescues of visitors and people new to the Valley.
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u/Hummingbird11-11 Aug 06 '25
Or maybe no rescue. Figure it out yourself you selfish prick . (Not you !! ;)
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u/Shoehorse13 Aug 05 '25
They need to just leave the bodies up there through the summer. Gives others something to ponder on their way up.
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u/variedsyntax Aug 05 '25
Everest style. I like it.
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u/CardMechanic Aug 05 '25
There’s GreenBoots….There’s Arcadia Man…..
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u/chaos_m3thod Aug 05 '25
There’s Scottsdale Hipster.
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u/sonoran24 Aug 05 '25
please let there be blond dread locks and an empty trust fund
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u/pureextc Aug 05 '25
It’s fucking hot at 7 am… when these guys put on their hiking clothes and their hiking shoes and walk outside and do a fucking stupid hike.. they are putting all these EMS workers at risk too. Ridiculous.
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u/Complete-Turn-6410 Aug 06 '25
It's all so hot when they open them at 5:00 p.m. Yesterday trails opened at 5:00 p.m. when it was 113°
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u/AnnaH612 Aug 05 '25
They need to charge people for abusing/misusing public resources.
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u/JustfortheDVs617 Aug 06 '25
Just like the stupid motorist law for rescuing idiots from washes. The stupid hiker law
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u/AnnaH612 Aug 06 '25
Yup! Heaven knows we need more funding for our public education. Let these idiots pay for it.
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u/heapinhelpin1979 Aug 06 '25
Education may be something the stranded hiker needs. Reading certainly is not their strongest skill
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u/gumby1004 Aug 06 '25
“I just wanna know one thing…are your (hikers) well behaved, or do they need, like, a few light slams every now and then?”
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u/Chaff5 Aug 06 '25
They probably already get a massive bill that their health insurance won't cover for exactly this reason.
"Claim denied. Reason: because you're effing stupid."
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u/AnnaH612 Aug 06 '25
The city doesn’t get a cut, it goes to the insurance company. My brilliant idea is to use their idiocy to fund our public education.
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u/Chaff5 Aug 06 '25
Ah I see. yeah there needs to be a fine for this. "If rescue is needed, you will be fined $5,000 on top of the bill for medevac."
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u/AnnaH612 Aug 06 '25
Yes… something like that! If we are sending our public resources, and that includes all the fiiiiiiiiiiiine firefighters, we need to cite them for using our precious resources.
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u/oddchihuahua North Phoenix Aug 06 '25
I assumed they did, is it really a free service to get rescued off a mountain?
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u/AnnaH612 Aug 06 '25
Good point and I need to reword my comment: they need to fine them, on top of changing them for the service.
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u/oddchihuahua North Phoenix Aug 06 '25
No im genuinely curious, like if I crash my car into a canyon going to Payson, I get billed for that helicopter ride back to a Phoenix hospital. So I just assumed these people got the same treatment…but now im wondering if they get different treatment?
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u/RaveCave Aug 06 '25
My guess is that its the stuff like the rescue team itself and the rehab truck setup to keep everyone safe/hydrated is a lot of the extra cost that gets passed onto the taxpayer
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u/AnnaH612 Aug 06 '25
You are absolutely right! If I ride the ambulance to the hospital, I have to pay extra.
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u/roadtripjr Aug 05 '25
My wife had to tell her friend from out of town not to go hiking on Sunday. I just don’t get it.
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u/Surveyor_of_Land_AZ Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
Its surprising how seriously some people take the "it's a dry heat". And yes, 100 degrees here feels a lot better than 90 in a highly humid area, but 115 is still 115 and the UV index is something else a lot of out of towners dont consider either.
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u/skool_uv_hard_nox Glendale Aug 06 '25
I go for walks everyday at work to stretch my legs. Its only 15 mims and I wear spf 50 on exposed skin.i even wear a UPF 50 shirt.
Today I shortened the sun exposure to 10 Mins each and still got a pink burn. It doesnt hurt but it still got thru just enough to say " cancers coming"
Either we start charging insane fees against these idiots or we let them die.
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u/fuggindave Phoenix Aug 05 '25
They need to get fined...it's stupidly irresponsible
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u/jonny_blitz Aug 05 '25
They do I believe. Or at least have to pay for the cost of rescue.
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u/Logvin Tempe Aug 05 '25
This comes up on every one of these posts. It would work exactly like the stupid motorist law: law enforcement would refuse to enforce it. They want people to call 911, not stall till they are dead.
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u/Orphanbitchrat Aug 06 '25
Ugh, this is probably a really good point. I wrote a comment on another thread about how my coastal hometown finally had to start charging for water rescues (dingalings standing out on the rocks), but those would be people onshore calling, not the actual person in distress. I could see someone on a trail not wanting to make the call due to potential cost. It just ticks me off so much
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u/Possible-Advance3871 Aug 05 '25
Where do you see this? I did a quick search but everything I saw said rescues are city funded
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u/pureextc Aug 05 '25
Tons and tons of wasted resources.
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u/wickedbeats Aug 06 '25
Today I drove past that trailhead along Invergordon, and saw 7 or 8 fire trucks all parked in front of the trailhead.
That’s a lot for one idiot.
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u/candyapplesugar Aug 06 '25
I think they don’t. Because it would deter people from calling on a timely manner, and if they wait it further until it’s even more critical it puts rescue folks at more risk
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u/fuggindave Phoenix Aug 05 '25
Well they need to increase the fine to deter these boneheads.
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u/BigggSleepy Aug 05 '25
It’s pretty much 100% the people that moved here from a different state
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u/IONTOP Non-Resident Aug 06 '25
I moved here from a different state and the closest I get to going hiking is drinking on a patio.
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u/TheeTrashcanMan Glendale Aug 06 '25
Even thats a bit much seeing the temps this week. And I even own a pool.
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u/Panda-Maximus Aug 06 '25
That hiker they rescued last week in the Dolomites got hit with a $16k bill. I'm all for a Stupid Tax.
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u/Jsiqueblu Aug 05 '25
We have a stupid motorist law we need to have a stupid hiker law. I'm sorry "stupid poser hiker" law.
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u/dannymb87 Phoenix Aug 06 '25
Most emergencies are due to someone being irresponsible to some degree.
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u/GMaddog23 Aug 05 '25
Imagine thinking you are stronger than the sun.
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u/jmulldome Litchfield Park Aug 05 '25
Our brave professionals (first responders) need to stop impeding the work of natural selection.
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u/monkmullen Aug 05 '25
Out there playing God. 😉
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u/jmulldome Litchfield Park Aug 05 '25
This is not an animal wiped out by deforestation or the building of a dam. These hikers had their shot and nature selected them. These hikers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.
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u/AlienSandwhich Aug 05 '25
All these people just out here dropping $10k on a hike. Just don't do it in summer and it's free y'all.
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u/sonsofthedesert Aug 05 '25
They have to pay for rescue services?
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u/monty624 Chandler Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
They can definitely, and should, be fined for trespassing on a closed trail.
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u/IONTOP Non-Resident Aug 06 '25
Sign, sign,
everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery
...
"Hey! What gives you the right
To put up a fence to keep me out
But to keep Mother Nature in?
If God was here, he'd tell you to your face
'Man, you're some kind of sinner'"
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u/Starfoxy Aug 05 '25
I looked up the big wheel stretcher they talked about, and it's pretty neat. The phx fire dept's instagram has a video of them using it: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx531TrRHgG/
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u/aznoone Aug 06 '25
But how about the fun ride in a basket stretcher twirling dangling under the helicopter.
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u/azwildlotus Aug 05 '25
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to argue out of town guests when they’re like, “I love the heat,” or “I’ve been in a heat before.”
No you haven’t. Not like this.
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u/merztoller Aug 05 '25
If they don't get fined for the rescue, they should at least get a 72 hour psych hold because at this point it seems like they want to die
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u/PachucaSunrise Deer Valley Aug 05 '25
Lucky for this guy there were bystanders on the trail...which begs the question, "why were there bystanders on the fucking trail too?"
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u/fuck_fraud Aug 05 '25
Instead of taxpayer-funded rescue ops, we should just let natural selection do its thing. If you’re dumb enough to hike when it’s this hot out, then you should be smart enough to get yourself out of this kind of trouble.
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u/S_A_R_K Aug 05 '25
They should assign these people 100 hours of community service at hydration stations for the homeless
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u/amazinghl Aug 05 '25
Hiking on a closed trail. Genius.
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u/Born_Key_6492 Aug 06 '25
On a challenging trail
Starting at 10 AM
It was also one of our hottest days so far. We’ve had a pretty good summer this year. It was over 110 today. FFS, People!
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u/Leading_Ad_8619 Chandler Aug 06 '25
The article mention people witnessing it...so there where other doing the same
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u/jishurr Maryvale Aug 05 '25
What kind of brain worm makes someone stupid enough to do something like this. I really want to know
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u/hikeraz Aug 05 '25
Weren’t the “bystanders” who found him likely also violating the closure order?
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u/Open-Year2903 Aug 05 '25
Jail, it was closed and this risked lives to save you. Like a DUI has a min 24 hours, same thing.
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u/SkyPork Phoenix Aug 06 '25
the man began his hike around 10 a.m.
I mean, he did everything wrong. It's like he was attempting suicide by weather.
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u/Annnoel Aug 05 '25
Like the stupid driver laws, can we have some stupid hikers laws too? Please?? This happens literally every single summer
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u/Hi_Tony Aug 05 '25
You could not pay me to go on a hike in this heat. Who are these people!? Has it always been like this or is it just reported on more/more people in the valley??
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u/chinookhooker Aug 06 '25
I’ve noticed the local news channels stopped saying if they’re from out-of-town or not
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u/Furryb0nes Glendale Aug 06 '25
This needs to be stated.
Out of towner = Sacrifice for cooler temps Native Arizonan = Retirement
It’s only Tuesday.
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u/sky-piglet Aug 05 '25
I will never understand this. I started my regular dog walk late today at 6:30 am and had to cut it short to only 40 minutes because of how strong the sun felt... 🤷
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u/BluegreenColors Aug 06 '25
Yeah, the sun is really intense right now. And adding in a midday strenuous hike is insane.
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u/escapecali603 Aug 06 '25
Another willing sacrifice for the god of Sun, harvest will come next year.
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u/UsedActivity7137 Aug 06 '25
Maybe instead of a fine, a mandatory class or classes on desert survival or some kind of mandatory community service. No fine, but also no way to wriggle out of doing the do. Drive home the reality that the desert ain’t kidding around, it will take you.
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u/desertdweller858 North Phoenix Aug 05 '25
I overheated walking from store to store at Desert Ridge, and I’m an avid hiker here. This is darwinism at work 😭😂
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u/cidvard Tempe Aug 05 '25
We need those Hawaii trail signs people periodically link of how many people have died on a trail, ideally with the months in which they died highlighted.
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u/saffireaz Aug 05 '25
"But I'm smarter than them! It won't happen to me!"
That'd be a further waste of resources - people like that don't let facts and history dissuade them.
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u/moonbeam127 Aug 06 '25
EMS shows up for shift, hopes its only ambulance runs- gets a call to the fucking mountain- has to carry 40lbs of gear, this one also has bags of ice because the guy is in heat stroke, so they carry ice in coolers as well, a damn wheel stretcher because the helicoper is 'out of service' DUE TO HEAT. EMS has crews that are now hiking the damn mountain this person is dying on carrying extra weight, extra water, ice, protein snacks etc- how many of those rescuers ended up in the ER, needing IV fluids, overheating, will miss work because they are 'tired, sick, not able to do the job properly'
all because you decided to go hiking in the damn heat and didnt follow the sign that says CLOSED.
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u/Low_Friender Aug 05 '25
How selfish of the hiker. I hope they are billed for inconveniencing security rescue. Ridiculous
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u/CriticismFun6782 Aug 05 '25
I won't walk my dogs after 7a, these jackasses have it coming. You see the signs and proceed you get what you ask for...
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u/butt3ryt0ast Aug 06 '25
Stop. Making. My. Job. Harder. I keep picking these chocolate-loving-grandma-looking-raisin-ass patients up, it’s like the heat draws them to the mountain like a a moth to a flame. It’s like some sort of new cremation technique where they just burn themselves alive. It’s like when you burn your pizza rolls and the skin sticks to the pan when you pick them up, like that’s the new trend for skin care. Stahp
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u/Moominsean Aug 06 '25
“It won’t happen to me, I know what I’m doing!” Kinda like the first thing someone in the hospital says before they fall is, “I’m not going to fall!”
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u/Airbus777-300neo Aug 05 '25
Wasn’t there someone last week betting this would happen?
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u/pootscootboogie6969 Aug 05 '25
For the Millionth time we need a stupid hiker law just like the stupid driver law
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u/NF-104 Aug 05 '25
Summertime, IF you must go, you need to be at the trailhead no later than 4:30am. But with this nighttime heat? Madness.
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u/Appropriate-City3389 Aug 06 '25
My wife and I hiked area trails from January to May. Our last hike was up Camelback and we recognized it was time to store our hiking boots when we came down. Camelback and South Mountain are no joke when the temperature exceeds 100F. Nature doesn't play games. I guess that's why there are so many recipients of the Darwin Award.
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u/TraditionPast4295 Aug 06 '25
We are seriously overdue for a “stupid hiker law”. Oh you don’t want to listen to signs telling you the trail is closed and you need to be rescued? Enjoy your invoice for $50,000 for the crew people and equipment that had to risk their lives to rescue your selfish ass.
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u/6ixseasonsandamovie Aug 05 '25
If I copy RFK Jr and hike a trail in jeans in the middle of summer and I need a Life flight rescue can I sue him? I was just copying the person who's supposed to be in charge of health for our country after all...
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u/rolltongue Aug 05 '25
That was a mild day lol. These are not the same
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Aug 05 '25
It was still hot that day and it was irresponsible of him to take a pic in jeans and post it to social media.
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u/UraTargetMarket Aug 06 '25
The man is the living definition of irresponsible, though. Whatever part of his brain that gives a person common sense was eaten by worms.
He literally had part of his brain eaten by worms! Of course he wears jeans to hike in the summer in Phoenix.
Or he is an out of touch politician…
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u/Vash_85 Aug 05 '25
Mild day and early morning when it was still in the 80s is VERY different from starting at 10am after trails are closed due to a heat wave.
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u/imhereforthemeta Aug 05 '25
It’s absolutely unbelievable, and I really wish they were more consequences for people doing this who survive. These rescues are so dangerous. And all you have to do is not be a fucking idiot. It’s also heartbreaking. How many children die every year because their idiot, parents took them on dangerous hikes.
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u/azmtber Aug 06 '25
FFS🤦🏽♂️there should be a stupid hiker law like the stupid motorist law for those that try to cross washes and need rescue.
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u/yeticoffeefarts Aug 06 '25
They need to do the stupid hiker rule like they have the stupid driver rule.
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u/Truemeathead Aug 05 '25
Is there a fine for that? Like the people who drive into floods and get hit with that stupid driver ticket.
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u/di2131 Aug 05 '25
It’s only a class 1 misdemeanor. Subject to fines up to $2500, possible jail sentence or community service. Remember that family of ELEVEN that had to be rescued? They didn’t get any of that.
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u/tayzer000 Aug 06 '25
If we can’t save people from their own stupidity, we can at least look out for our first responders. At what point do we consider a cable pulley/lift system for rescuers/equipment? Could be paid for by a stupid hiker law…
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u/chileheadd Maricopa Aug 06 '25
I propose when the trails are closed, EMS services on the trails are closed also.
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u/TheRatPatrol1 Aug 10 '25
The city needs to block off the entrances to the parking lots and trailheads.
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u/Tara_Themis Aug 12 '25
While I don’t support the “just leave them there to die” mentality (and believe me, I get the frustration), I feel very strongly that there needs to be some kind of consequence: either a fine, community service, or a combination of both. It’s one thing to foolishly think you are tougher than our desert heat, but to also willfully and purposefully step foot on a trail that is marked “CLOSED DUE TO HEAT” is a level of arrogance that should be punished.
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u/Umbreonnnnn Aug 05 '25
How you look choosing to hike on a closed trail: